Education and Development ~ How do you govern? ~How do you grow your economy? ~How do you develop your education system? ~Foreign Policy Formation? ~Defense/Military? ~Political Instability ~Need the necessary capital (Human Capital) ~Dependency i. ii. iii. Common Characteristics of African States At Independence-1960s a. At independence in the 1960s, all African states were characterized by similar social, economic, political, and cultural characteristics including: i. Ex colonial states ii. Underdevelopment iii. Poverty iv. Economic dependency v. Political instability- regional conflicts vi. Ethnic loyalty and national unity vii. International competition viii. High illiteracy rates among the population ix. Neo-colonialism Africa: The Need to Develop 1960s a. Issue: in the 1960s, western economists came up with several development theories as an attempt to assist the independent new independent African States to develop their economies and societies and improve the quality of life of their people. And African leaders equally felt they needed to develop to catch up with their ex-colonial rulers and their countries. Development a. Development- definition- what is development? i. Agriculture ii. Infrastructure iii. Advanced technology b. Western assumptions about post-colonial Africa c. Development theories of the 1960si. Modernization theory ii. Functionalist theory/ functionalism iii. The human capital theory (HCT) iv. The dependency theory iv. v. vi. vii. The Modernization Theory a. Briefly, the modernization theory argues that African societies should follow the development model of Western countries, especially that of Europe, if they wanted to achieve full and proper development of their countries and peoples b. The emphasis of the theory was for Africans to “modernize” their societies on the model of what had occurred centuries earlier in Europe c. The theory encourages Africans to move away from their traditional ways of doing things and running their societies and adopt European ways of life and practices d. This implied that Africans had to depend on Europe for its development and very survival, a clear example of Neo-colonialism and political control of the independent African states and their peoples e. Africans, therefore, needed to seek help in terms of resources, expertise, and capital from western nations for their development efforts Result a. The modernization theory, therefore, sought to return Africans to the status of colonialism once again The Functionalist theory or Functionalism a. The functionalist theory argues that because members or every society possess different talents and skills and knowledge, thus society must be based on Merit, instead of the traditional practice of inheritance, which leaves others out of the competition, and therefore, creates discrimination and inequality in society b. According to the advocates of the theory, some people are better at academics, while others excel in vocational skills, hence each person must be given the opportunity to use their skills and talents to create a good life for themselves and their families, thus the theory came up with the following suggestions: i. Equal opportunity for all in society ii. The introduction of the use of the Resume for applying for jobs iii. The creation of two curricula in the schools: Academic and Vocational iv. The importance of education for all as an equal opportunity device to succeed in society v. The notion that Education is The Great Equalizer, because it gives equal opportunity to all, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic background, religion, and ethnicity c. Education is very important for the development of all people and societies, hence governments should invest heavily in it d. Education is like a “sorting device” which sorts students into their best skills and talents, hence teachers and schools should decide for students and their future e. All countries should practice meritocracy, if they wanted to achieve development of their peoples and societies The Human Capital Theory a. The human capital theory was advanced by an American Economist called Theodore Schultz, in 1961. He based his theory on a study he conducted on the American economy from 1920-50, in which he claimed that the American economy grew greatly, due to the fact that the US government invested a lot capital in the education of the citizens of the country. Therefore, he also stressed the importance of Education in the development efforts of all nations, especially the newly independent African societies. But he argued that the focus must be on higher education, instead of primary education, to help produce the researchers, and the manpower required for the economy. He recognized the existence of: i. Physical capital (cash) ii. Human capital (knowledge and skills) b. The theory suggested the following: i. Governments should invest physical capital in the development of their education systems ii. That investment of physical capital in education would give more access to students while in school, and equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills required for the economy iii. The acquisition of knowledge and skills by students in school would make them more productive than the uneducated person, and this would lead to more productivity by the graduates when they graduate from school iv. the graduates would then be able to produce more for the industries and companies that hire them which would allow such companies to produce more or surplus, which they would export and sell for additional or surplus profit v. this profit will then translate back into physical capital which could be reinvested in the economy and education for the production of surplus and more graduates with knowledge and skills required by the economy vi. Results: 1. Investment of physical capital in education would later translate back into physical capital but with added profit for the company and country c. Recommendations by the Theory i. African governments should borrow physical capital from western countries to finance the development of their education systems for the training of their people and production of qualified manpower for the economy ii. This led to the concept of Foreign Aid iii. The creation of the Peace Corps by President Kennedy to send American graduates to Africa to assist in the development of their education systems as teachers, experts, and administrators and consultants d. The Dependency Theory i. The dependency theory was championed by Gunder Frank in 1962 ii. The theory argues that African societies are poor, because colonialism and western nations have deliberately made African economies dependent upon western economies iii. He argues that the world economic system was unfair to Africa and other developing nations, since those countries do not have the power to dictate the prices of their exports iv. He further argues that western countries have used and continued to use African and other Third World countries to profit and provide better lives for their citizens, while they pretend to be helping Africa using foreign aid, as they charged unrealistic interest rates which continue to keep Africans and Third World citizens in perpetual poverty and underdevelopment conditions and economies. The poverty, therefore, was deliberately created to keep Africa and its peoples as servants and laborers to western societies, while they plundered the raw materials of these countries and left their peoples poor and diseased, though they owned vast natural resources e. Result of the Development Theories i. Despite the criticisms offered by groups such as the dependency theorists, the human capital and functionalist advocates succeeded in convincing western governments to initiate programs that would send resources and expertise and capital to African governments to assist them in their development efforts ii. The development of education thus became the priority of most African governments, and heavy investments were made to produce the required manpower personnel for the economies f. The Role of The World Bank and the IMF i. Vased on the suggestions made by the Human Capital, Modernization and Functionalist Theories, the World Bank and the IMF advised African governments to borrow money for their development efforts ii. Result: 1. This was born the concept and ideology of foreign aid